The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-11-30
iMR. J. E. SCOTS PROMISED SITE
MEN7,

as 50. the difficulties in the way of making
alyself tho,oasl,ly understood, through the
medium of the press, are fully appreciated
The system Of taxation under which the
people have labo-ed so long, are not only
unequal and unjust but Of O character SO
complex and complicated, as very often to
puzzle those whom the laws charge with hav-
ing them enforced. Many points. therefore,
: necessary here to keep in view, and upon
which I would Ike to elaborate, must be
barely touched; and Others no less in con-
sequence, omitted. on occount OF the great
length to which saSL review woGld extend
this article.
About the first ripple that foretold the
coming storm. to which have been so mer-
cilessiy exposed, wGs the rumor floating
around that so much property hal been es-
Gaping taxation To this Iw:il advert in its
proper place, and ask all who may honor me
with perusal to bear in mind, that the last
work done by me was under re-assessment
Of real estate, which, some years ago came
around nearly every year, but latterly eve
ny fourth year. am thus particular to call
up this fact, for as every experienced officer
knows, it is sabove all others a time when
errors Of every description rise to the surface.
Just rs the books are practically correct,
and all mistakes and misunderstanding
wiped out, here comes this re-assment and
the entry to be made from the returns. Nor
is this county any exception to the general
fact, but it is prevalent all over the State,
:sand more directly referable than anything
Seisa, to the complicated requirements OF the
staxlaws. My last work alluded to, lay amid
StAese troubles and they were very consider
sa5sE augmented. by the change Of blanks that
had been III use for many years. They were
an@provenent in the main. but the people
notSamiliar with the forms and much con-
s fraSn resulted. The mistakes ID entering
were quite common such as placing acres,
: where the valuation ought to be; the wood
ssMhe,e the total acres should have been p.ac-
= ed, land purchased" in the space allotted
to lands ''sotd;" and so on. Right along
:. here there is, good deal Of after conse-
-quences to persons holding any kind ofjoint
: interest in real estate, By reason Of the Ne
5 glect On their part Of coming to an agree
ment as TO who should make the return,
( mortgagor or mortgagee; the same with
: agents and their principals. It is first en-
tsred in one aacle, and then IN the other
without any information to guide the audi
tor, as he threads his way through this Gre
Z tan labyrinth. On the death of the head of
the family, the widow or the eldest son (n
l<A
consequence is, payment IN one, and execu-
ton against the other, brought over from
8 the last book as having made no return, per-
haps. The sale Of lands is another "pando-
70 box" TIE purchase we will say is on
: time; to be paid three years hence; purchas-
er to pay taxes. 1t the expiration Of allotted
Indulgence the title deed is taken, Lot in
the name of the cne, who has in the interim
been paying the taxes, but wife, son, or
some other third person; aad when entered
upon the record, with not hint even to ex-
cite inquiry, it IS mistaken for new tran
: saction entirely, and placed side by side
with the other. It would appear to the un-
initiated who have neye. stumbled over
these masked batteries. that the Record of
ConEeyances' would pilot the. q htor through
and SO it wovld, but for the misfortune that
many persens do not record their title-6eeds
at all, others DO so after having them on the
:tax-books for five, ten, and twenty years.
Of course when the prescribed forms are
followed, the matter is very greatly changed.
But even then owing to similarity in initial
letters, and returning, first with only one
letter gwen. and the next assessment plac-
ing the full name, will everlastingly cause
confusion. especially when living near town
ship lines, and listing" first in one and
then IN the other Itis true that where
theirs IS any doubt the auditor csn call for
the deeds, but who of the many that go out
eser think Of carrying this evidence Of OWL
ership; and with multitude ready and
waitinr, no one would ever think of cate
ch;zing q nan as to his title when he stands
ready to swear it is his, yetsometimes, q
person makes a return on partially made
agreement and the contract never concluded,
but down the land goes. These few, by
way of illustration, are adduced from the
vast array that stand bristling beside this
highway Of thorns and thistles; and let an
auditor attempt a construction OF his dupE-
cate from the returns and book Of past
year, without the strictest scrutiny as to the
run of these things and lie may have 6 long
and promising list enough to pay any copn-
ty out Of debt. But when the deputies come
back, escorted by angry taxpayers wanting
to know, why, an execution was served on
him and he witha receipt. Explain to him
that his land was down in his w1fe's name
and the personally in lis. We will assume
that he lives near the township lines and is
met by another deputy from that precinct
with on execution on return made by one
Of his sons who was not certain IN which his
father resided. There is now Ectl:tle hope
1OI lie SUO1IOI W SSCN pc N1tliOUt q S1SSSiAS
And yet, this condition Of affairs is common
and can only be avoided by ceaseless vigil
sace. My custom was to pass the blanks
when filed out over to The boards whose
knowledge of the circumstances IN nearly
every case. remedica this to a, considerable
extent In making up the aggregates on
these years, rather than write up on an IN
certainty, and csuse such dissatisfaction. the
doubtful cases were reserved for inquiry un-
til properly located. Nothing was lost event
Gally, and the discomfort reduced to min
imur. So many returns came by mail from
non-resioents and persons living at remote
points, that it was almost impossible to
know where 10 address communication and
when found the information was foreign to
the exigencies Of the case. At best, 1t used
TO be stormy sea. One Of the many changes
for the better recently made is that of max
ing the return and paying the same year.
During my tenure of Office We had, as it were,
two assessments before one t.z-paylng. TIE
matter became confused beyond measure, on
account Of persons thinking that they were
paying on the property last ''listed," when
it was that of nearly eighteen months before.
With this dim outlining of the realities, you
cen see the extreme G:2ger of getting too
MACH property. It Is q fact well remember
ed, that some Of the places left of were in
such condition as not to be returned at
Il, :. L.